All posts for the month September, 2012

Now, continuing with the Slow Epicness Week, I will put the next three songs. Again, to remind you the kind of songs I am posting this week, I will post three of them, one for each day. Each one is a slow tune that grows into epicness, usually a ballad that inspires you, no matter how sad the topic. Enjoy!

80 Days – Marillion (Friday)

Take it easy, breathe, rethink yourself. A simple message. Maybe one of the most interesting bands in existence,almost none of my friends know them. The beautiful thing about the song is that it never reaches the heavy crescendo like in rock or even in metal; instead the tonade (here played by a xylophone, I think) makes you really try to shake off your weariness, making it a perfect song for people who just want to feel inspired by just listening to a relatively tranquil song.

Eukalyptustreet – Solefald (Saturday)

Solefald is a weird band. Hailing to the Folk Metal genre, they usually experiment a lot with different kinds of styles. This one in particular has a jazzy tone that very slowly grows into a crescendo. I will be honest here, though, I do not understand a word of what the musicians say. But that is the beauty of music: you can enjoy it even though you don’t know the text!

Romance de la luna, luna – Saurom (Sunday)

Continuing with the language barrier, this time I turn towards Spain, where a very unknown band takes, what I think is, a folk song dedicated to the moon. This one is really very interesting and it really plays with your mood. A nice lovesong to enjoy, ironically, you Sun-day!

Well, next week I’ll return to the usual games rant I do, I still have a Greatest Fantasy Story Ever segment in preparation and the new series, which, because of unforseen events in my life, had to be re-scheduled for another day. Until then…

Music is part of our lives. Each one has his favourites. Mine are Rock and Metal. Now, what I specially like about these genres is their power they tend to convey. Last week I was very inspired by what many people know as ballads. So it came into my mind to present some of the songs that made my heart beat faster, even though they started slow. That’s right, this list is about songs that slowly inspire you.

That’s what “slow epicness” is about. These are songs that gradually raise your mood and make you want to rock, no matter how sad the song is. Let us just say that these two kinds of music have a way of handling ballads, sometimes permitting a spiritual up-lifting beyond of what other music types can achieve. Now, I will post this in two parts, one today with the first four (one for each day) and on Friday the last three. You can see them as an inspiring song for every day. If you have some that inspire you the same way these songs do, you comment on it. I’ll gladly hear those songs and maybe do something similar sometimes with those songs!

Stairway to Heaven – Led Zeppelin (Monday)

Maybe the best example and the best way to start a week. Now, I don’t fully understand the lyrics. I have an interpretation, but I don’t want to comment on it. All I can say is that this song is great. It starts out slow and tenderly rises to a scream that can lift up a spirit. Called the hymn of Rock, it has been even called a perfect soundtrack for sexual intercourse! I may not agree with the last opinion, but this songs has been extremely influential and it is impossible to ignore as one of the greatest songs of Rock and Metal ever!

Trail of Broken Hearts – Dragonforce (Tuesday)

Everyone recognizes Dragonforce’s famous song “Through the Fire and the Flames”, a weird masterpiece of quick grinding and constant solos, which was featured in one of the Guitar Hero games. It is the song that awes all the people who see someone playing it in almost perfect rating. But there is more of that band. Although sometimes a bit repetitive from track to track, I think their greatest song up to now is the last song on the same album as “Through the Fires and the Flames”. “Trail of Broken Hearts” is not only sad at the beginning, but it already gives you the feeling that something is about to happen. Even though it is for those who had their will broken, it still tells us not to give up, by pushing the moods high up through the solos. Definitely worth a hearing.

Tears of Rage – Primal Fear (Wednesday)

Primal fear is known for their aggressive ballads. But by the gods, do they get into you! They have many songs like this, but I chose this one specifically because it is my favourite of that group; specially those silences that stop the song and leave the listener with a tension are something to be noted. At the end it explodes in a great solo that makes this whole “pride and break-up” song really epic.

November Rain – Guns ‘n’ Roses (Thursday)

Another slow epic song par excellence one more of those great renditions by the (now not so) legendary Guns ‘n’ Roses. A tense song, this break-up songs still talks about some hope. It is a long song, but worth every second. Just close your eyes and enjoy the experience!

Now, this is the first part. On friday the next part will be out with the last three songs. Enjoy and comment!

Empire simulations. Maybe you never heard that term. That is because I just invented it. Of all the strategy games on the market, the ones I preferred the most were the turn-based empire builders, similar to Civilization. I don’t know, there is just a special kind of fun when you control the lives of millions during thousands of years.

But long before we had the chance to even play on chequered boards with nice graphics, we had Master of Orion. This one is set in a distant future, where multiple races lived in a dark age and now it is up to you to bring them together again or, as some of us love it, exterminate them (video game genocide… now that sounds real bad!). It was published By MicroPose in 1993 for the PC.

The simulation had close to no graphics. It played mostly on a map with different stars scattered around it. Each star represented a star system (much like the Solar System) in which there was a probability of a planet looming , although not all were immediately habitable. After founding a few colonies you finally found the first race and then you have to trade with them and create treatises.

Now, the complexity of this game was incredible. What I specially liked was the technology tree, which did not have differing paths as we see on modern time strategy games, but technically was endless, since they resorted just to heighten the bonus. You could easily research a technology to make your factories better and had, at least, nine versions of this, each one better than the other. Also, you could research many things at the same time!

Also the best feature was the ability to design you own spaceships. I think that alone made the game just great. Just check it out! The more technologies you researched, the more possibilities you could get to make better, faster, more powerful vessels to make the enemies kneel before you. Can you imagine a Civilization like this?

Now, as far as I have heard, there were two sequels, of which I only played the second. Master of Orion deepened the strategy by putting actual planets on the system, as well as including some strange race that randomly attacked you. The last one was annoying, although you could turn that off.

This will be the map you will be seeing most of the time!

Somehow, the deepened strategy ended up being not attractive at all to me. There were more nice graphics, but the game became even slower and it was annoying to explore each planet on each system, which is why I stopped playing it. It is a perfect example in which deeper strategy and better graphics do NOT make a good game.

What about the third part? I never played it, I am not even sure that it exists, but I stopped playing after the second Master of Orion.

I do recommend the first game. It is now an Abandonware, which means that you can play it for free legally. Just make sure you get the latest version of DosBox to emulate it, since it is a very old PC game.

From time to time, when I am tired of remembering what to do in real life, I get to think about my old games of my childhood. I still remember that clunky thing called a “Game Boy” that swallowed up 4 whole AA batteries just to give me a few hours of fun. Then,the picture on it faded and I had to feed my beast again for an extra moment of fun.

Now, if there was a game that was specially interesting on the system, it was the Astérix & Obélix. Released in 1996 alongside a computer and a SNES version, it was based of the popular comic with the same name. In it you play either as the small but smart hero Astérix or the big and roman-beating Obélix. You will travel through Gaul, England, Greece and Spain to beat up as many romans as possible while winning the Olympics and a Rugby match, outrunning a bull and cracking the London Tower and a bank in Switzerland (isn’t that great?).

This was pure platforming joy. After Mario Land 2 it was the second game of this kind I beat as a kid, and I can remember the love with which this game was made. It was jumping around with interesting mini games on the way to change the pace. This made the game glorious, although many players never got to play it. I really lament most people missed that game, since it was definitely an excellent game.

Help, help! A robber!

Now, what stands out for this game was the graphics. Considering it was the old block we love to call Game boy, it had very clear images of what you were fighting and what you were traveling in. Other features that were good was the language selection, which made the game accessible for anyone not capable of speaking english. Infogrames really showed their capability as programmers back then by making it open to anyone interested in it.

I definitely recommend buying that game, if you have a chance to get you hands on it. The whole cartridge is an experience beyond of what one could expect, and it filled many joyful hours for me. This is truly a gem that was forgotten, since the two celtic warriors were mostly unknown to the american public. The only way I got it was when I lived in Germany. When I saw it I HAD to buy it, and my parents (oddly) accepted on buying me this game… that much trust they had in the franchise they themselves loved so much.

As a side note, I am myself a huge Astérix and Obélix fan, having read almost all (the newest one I have not read because I have not been able to get my hands on it – yet). Infogrames managed to print that love into code and give the gamer an interesting experience and the ability to use both characters. Definitely worth playing that gem!

Now this series is not the one I had planned to create when I promised it, but the other one needed a little research extra I was not able to give at the moment. In any case, I am hopeful to be able to publish the first part next week. Hopefully!
Until next time then!

Lately I have been seeing a few videos largely about the censorship forced on the Mortal Kombat franchise by Nintendo at the time they first ported the arcade on the SNES. It has a lot to talk about, since many have criticized this seemingly stupid move – violence and brutality was a part of this game after all!

But if we observe the situation, we notice that Nintendo did what they had to do. Even though its censorship on games was far from flawless and sometimes even a bit exaggerated, I feel it was at times a bit ahead of its time, trying to preemptively to solve problems that rose a few years later. Today videogames are faulted for the violent outbursts of different people, be it a grown-up beating down a minor or a school shooting. The question here, thus, is if we can really blame videogames for the aggressions or not.

One of the most clear examples are the shootings. Usually the killers are in possession of a few games with brutal content, which they play with certain obsession. It is easy for the media to blame those games for giving the child the impulse and the training to use a shotgun.

This is, in my own experience, false. I have played Doom I & II since I was at leat eleven. I never was compelled to use a gun. I outright despise fire weapons. I only used a rifle twice in my life, both times it was just an air gun that could barely hurt someone. I do admit I love shooting rifles… in Doom and Goldeneye, but nowhere else.

On the other hand, and taking the theory of compulsion and training through a videogame, I have trained in the use of various kinds of swords and axes, although I never played Skyrim or any Oblivion game whatsoever, nor even Ultimate Underworld (maybe Zelda “trained” me?). So there is no need of influence by a videogame to use any kind of weaponry. It is ridiculous to think that game can teach you how to use a weapon! Also, my biggest influence for the love of weapons are the various fantasy books I have read of the Dragonlance series and the always classic triology The Lord of the Rings. Does this make me dangerous?

Also, as a last fact to consider, there are a lot of people who have the aggressive tendencies, but do not play any game of sort. Why that happens is often not really discussed but by experts and that’s it. Sometimes it’s a movie, sometimes some disease, etc.

There is a comic I am a fan of, which has an interesting introduction by, what I suppose is, a friend of the author of the graphic novel. At the beginning of Johnny the Homicidal Maniac he comments that the story is “food for the inner monster” that we all harvest inside of us willingly or not. Needless to say, the contents of the comic are extremely violent. Then he condemns anyone who applies it in real life. The function of the graphical violence shown is to live out the fantasy inside of oneself beating up the one who wronged us during our routines days, but never to apply it.

Now, this sounds like terrible advice, but I think there is a point to it. At one moment of our lives we always feel the urge of aggression, may we express it physically (yelling, cursing, even throwing stuff) or not. But what differentiates us from the young shooter or the abusive parent is what we choose not to show it, or at least try to keep it down. Some more sane express these desires by just using the imagination; maybe even in a game. But we have control, a trait we learned mainly because of our parents.

This is why I criticize the modern media. They claim the violence stems from a videogame. But our world is full of violence. Still, we do not kill each other. The answer, I think, lies in education.

Parents today have the tendency, because of the extreme workloads, to let the children alone with a T.V. or a console to babysit them. It is easy to distract them by providing them with those things. But contents are not always checked and, more importantly, also is not the child. They have to struggle to understand what is seen on the screens, without any frame of reference they can rely on. Thus, sometimes, in their frustration and loneliness, tend to express what they observe. The same applies to movies!

Is that the parents fault, though? No, I do not blame, as much as I point out to a problem in our society: long work hours far away, poor attentions from instances and institutions and the easy way out found in modern media permit these “deviations” to happen. Better said, they permit for children to not express the way we expect them to in society.

In other words, videogames alone do not do the work: their environments, more or less controlled, do tend to make them feel frustrated and lost, without knowing why. Meanwhile, violent movies, videogames and other kind of influences only help to reinforce the problems a child has to deal with, which is expressed at any point of life. But there is no formula to success on that.

Found it on a Google image search and I feel it just fits in perfectly to see the censorship the game had. Blood was swapped to sweat. Nice.

Blaming videogames as a main factor is irresponsible from our side. We have to find the time to guide our children and people who emotionally need it. Also, we really need to reflect about ourselves. In an ideal world we would have time for everything. Sadly this is not the reality of things. But it is up to us to make the difference, find a way to give us time.

Nintendo, on purpose or not, anticipated that there would be a controversy from diverse parent groups when referring to video games. At the end the effort was to no avail and, despite the censorship and rating systems, the children are exposed to all this without someone guiding them – not even in school. Many blame the problem on the “evil side” of humans. In my observation, it is all up to having some responsibility and attention.

Ah, yes! Vampirism. Since the dawn of mankind it has drawn our interests. We always talk about different kinds of bloodsuckers; each author and culture, at least in the history of mythology and literature, have taken a different perspective. I must admit it: I love them too. There is something in that creature that always spikes our interest.

This has come with its obvious drawbacks. Whoever dared to read or watch the Twilight Saga has experienced the dread of the shiny son of Dracula mating with a disco ball. Countless times this approach has been criticized but, as a matter of fact, it is now here to stay. All we can do now is hope for its gradual fading into oblivion.

The nature of a vampire is not as easy to play with as many a reader might think. I could lecture you (maybe one day I might) on what this pseudo-lord-of-the-night Edward is, but as far as it goes, the tag the character wears is not deserved. Changing the vampire myth, after all, has become a daunting task, specially since Anne Rice kinda set ground on modern literature bloodsucker.

This obviously does not mean no one can try anymore. Bram Stoker had already done his bit and it took a while to “dethrone” (I use the term very lightly) him from his spot as a classic (anyone remembers Nosferatu?). George Martin, more known for his Game of Thrones series, has nonetheless made the attempt. And, as I would describe it, an interesting interpretation of the favourite horror creature of all times.

Set in the area of New Orleans and the rivers, a pale, rich man with strange sleeping habits decides to create a boat to invite people with the same strange way of life to travel with him. Little known to the captain of that beautiful steamboat, he is a bloodsucker with a revolutionary invention bound to change the destiny of inter-species relationships. And, little known to the inventor, another one of his race, more ancient, is bound to stop him and shatter the dreams of unification.

Right off the bat: the imagery is enchanting.If there is something G.R.R. Martin is a master of, it is the descriptions. The story takes place in an USA just before the Civil War, and it is incredibly well researched and worked. Here we see how the relationship slave-master was really like, and how the trade on the Mississippi and other rivers flourished to a degree that we sometimes fail to imagine. Plantations, cities on the river and, why not, the steamboats themselves fill up our imagination with a daunting and attractive imagery that makes justice to the author’s abilities.

The story in itself is not bad. It is interesting how the writer explains his versions of vampires, which, as you will read, is a different take from the undead prototype. It suffers of one of those terrible cut endings, in which, as soon as the “villain” dies, it ends with a very cryptic epigraph. Not an open ending, but just a total narrative shutdown, which I have come to dislike. I really hope this does not happen to Game of Thrones!

As far as the vampires go, I think they are very well portrayed. Mind you, they are not as good as Rice’s, but the effort of imagining them is very much appreciated. It sometimes gets enthralling when the author approaches to their way of thinking. Psychology and philosophy are the main traits of this book. I really think Martin captured and old discussion very well in an imaginative way, giving the reader some food for his thought.

But, is it for everyone? I highly doubt it. It is not the description that bothers me, neither the exact historical terms Martin uses throughout his novel. It is his new idea of what a vampire is. Although interesting, I had the feeling that it was still not quite right. He may have failed at showing a new one, but at least he fared much better than Meyer. My recommendation is that only the real fans of the bloody undead should read it, or maybe even those who like stories with complicated moral choices and unusual story progression. And those who love historical novels. I think it may confuse some people on how the vampires are treated, and I definitely think it was a good take, but it just did not “feel right”. In my personal opinion, though, I liked it.

Well then, I see you next time, as always, this time I think I may release a series I have been working on since last week. Let us see how the writing progresses there!

The Legend of Zelda is one of the greatest franchises ever created. Nintendo, when re-building the gaming industry after the crash of the 80s, really produced hit after hit. You can demonstrate it by just observing how many of these games are lately turning 25 years: Metal Gear, Mario Bros., Metroid… definitely I would dare to call the NES-era one of the golden times of videogaming.

Specially Zelda holds a dear place in our hearts. How many times, after all, did we go ahead and save her? Across the wide lands of Hyrule and other kingdoms, time and even universes our hero link has restlessly picked up item after item to rid the world of evil and, more specifically, Ganondorf (although not always).

I may have not played every game, but I am definitely enthralled by every new one that comes out. Twilight Princess is the only reason I am planning to buy a Wii!

But then there is the other side to this fandom. During years the community, loyal to their Zelda games, have been discussing the order of the games in a timeline that would sound as convincing as possible. Multiple videos have come out in response, and many more articles joined to discuss such a matter. It has come up to ending friendships!

Recently, while browsing my usual favourite game reviews and bits of information I stumbled across the last episode of Clearing the Confusion, a very interesting series in which NecroVMX gives us an outline on sequels and storylines of the different most popular games ever released, no matter if it was in Japan or the world. This particular episode one was dedicated to the game we are about to tackle… or to be more specific, the fandom around it.

The video is 30 minutes long and definitely worth a watch. At the end he basically gives his opinion on the whole “creating a timeline” issue that has plagued the Zelda fans for years. In a nutshell he beseeches the community to just enjoy the games and leave the timeline the way Nintendo envisioned it when they released the most recent installment, Skyward Sword. Now, even though I like the idea of just enjoying the games, as they were intended to be used, I can not share the criticism towards the fans of the series.

In an alternative, much earlier review, AVGN also had a few words on this particular expression of fandom. For him it was a sign of the passion that many gamers displayed towards their favourite series. Despite all the swearing he usually does, I must agree on that. Enjoying the game goes much times beyond just sitting in front of the T.V. and pressing the right buttons. It is about, and specially in this day and age, to share the experiences with others, to discuss the game and to expand it beyond its limits.

I must be honest, until I saw the AVGNs review, I had never thought that there should be a timeline for the Zelda games. And even now I am reluctant to even think of that. For me every story has its own unique take on almost the same legend, unless it is explicitly a sequel to a previous game (like it happens in Zelda 2). I always thought it would be too bothersome to try to find some coherence from game to game. But some fans did. And I do not criticize them for that. It is great for them to take the work and to do this. It is in their freedom to try to figure this out, however useless it may be. It is, after all, their way of experiencing the game.

What I do not condole is that the passions just get out of hand. In other words, I do not agree with ending friendships over such a detail. This effort of putting the games in a timeline is just a way to express fandom. I never ever fought my friends when we tried to explaining a detail on an orc’s way of life. Sure, we would debate heatedly, but at the end we would just nod and agree that the discussion was useless… and thus fun. In other words, the discussion should never affect a real life. Because that is what really should underline the criticism towards fandom.

I am not a fanboy in the sense that everything I see about my music, games or books drives me nuts. As a historian myself I have learned that going to the extremes just provokes more trouble than it is worth anything. Discussion, no matter what levels they are on, should always reach a healthy quota. If you can not understand the other person, then why bother? We are not defining the destiny of humanity itself!

In any case, the accusations made by NecroVMX, whether intended or not, are not really ideal. I understand what he’s trying to say, since some fanboys exaggerate a lot and one as a gamer can get fed up by it. But we can not condemn a whole fandom just because of some bad apples!

May they smile upon your way!

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Welcome to a blog of gaming, movies, books and some history. In here I explore the stories that have carried us over decades, yes, even centuries, to what defines us today. I hope you enjoy it and comment, I am always open to respond!
This blog is updated whenever possible, once a week.